Residents say the water is damaging property; city says it’s similar to problems in other intersections and budget woes prevent repairs

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Neighbors who are concerned about flooding near G Street and Wabash Avenue pose in an alley near the intersection. From left are Jon Scott, Jeff Lanphere, Cindy Miller, Tom Browning and Tom Jimerson, all of whom signed the letter to the city asking for the interestion to be addressed. (Ruth Schneider — The Times-Standard)

In the early morning hours of Feb. 26, Eureka resident Jeff Lanphere was sloshing around in the basement of his home in the 600 block of Del Norte Street.

The previous week saw a substantial amount of rain. One that left flooding and road damages across the county in its wake.

It also spurred the flooding in Lanphere’s basement, something he said is a result of bad drainage and a crumbling pipe system, part of which crosses his property. The flooding was more than he or his family could handle on their own. Humboldt Bay Fire was called in to help.

“We were up at 2:30 in the morning fighting this thing,” he said. “… When it starts raining, we’re up 24 hours to monitor our house.”

It was not the first time city services were called in for help. The problem dates back years for Lanphere, to when he moved in five years ago. Multiple city documents show the problems date back further. Sixteen neighbors recently signed a letter sent to the city stating the problem dates back decades.

“The flooding is causing damage to many neighbor’s homes in the close proximity of Wabash and G Street,” the letter sent in early March states. “This is affecting the value of our homes and we suspect the flooding is affecting the safety of our homes.”

Many residents of the area have made significant investments to protect their homes. Lanphere’s basement has rubber under the floor and snaking up the walls to protect it when the flooding does happen. Neighbor Jon Scott, who has lived in the neighborhood for decades, sank tens of thousands of dollars installing a water pump in his backyard to mitigate the flooding, something he says is not a complete fix, but a partial one.

“It works,” he said of the pumps. “It just can’t keep up with the water at all. … I have one pump in my house and a big one outside.”

The level of frustration from neighbors in the area is high. But city funding for projects to repair drainage are low.

“I’m not after the money,” Lanphere said. “I want my home back.”

Neighborhood history

A creek at one time ran through the area where Lanphere’s backyard currently sits. Now, Lanphere said, what he’s found from digging in his yard is a lot of broken pipes — five different kinds — that at one time managed water flowing below the ground in the area where the creek used to be.

Lanphere sites that issue as a possible source of the flooding problems. Eureka Public Works Director Brian Gerving said that is possible.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if one of those gulches would go through that vicinity,” he said. “It can definitely mean that those drainage patterns are still there. They’re just under the surface. Where you had surface water in the past, you may have a higher level of groundwater now because it’s following those old drainage patterns. If you have things like crawl spaces, or basements or you’ve got a hillside that is cut out when the property was developed, you might have a higher likelihood of water being present.”

Gerving also said building materials used in the past may spur other issues. And he noted that much of the city’s infrastructure, including water pipes, could be a century old.

“A lot of times when those gulches were filled in the past, they were not necessarily filled with modern structural methods, so it results in settling and foundation issues.”

Scott, who grew up in the neighborhood, recalls trucks filled with dirt coming into the neighborhood and filling a stream-lined gully near the G and Wabash intersection, and the area was built up for more housing development in the early 1980s.

“Dump truck after dump truck of clay (was brought in) so the water won’t move,” Scott said. “Eighteen dump trucks I counted when I was little.”

It was sometime after that, Scott said the flooding issues began. He said his mother made multiple complaints to the city. And for a while, a lawsuit was considered.

“We did not file a lawsuit because we did not have enough money,” Scott said. “… We saved our money and got the pump instead.”

Gerving said that is a solution many use.

“It’s quite common for there to be some pumps to drain crawl spaces or in the relatively rare situation where you have a basement in Eureka,” he said.

He added the onus is on homeowners.

“If they have something that is below grade or below street level, then yeah, it’s on the property owners to make sure the property is adequately protected,” he said.

Increasing problems

In the following decades, the problems have mounted, neighbors said. And several neighbors believe the underground water situation is causing sinkholes and potholes.

“My neighbor Tim, his house is the worst of all of us because it sunk,” Scott said.

Neighbors in the area said the flooding reaches “approximately 12-16 inches deep,” and is a concern not only for the damage it causes but for the safety of the intersection.

“Cars move through the intersection from west to east (and vice versa) at the speed limit of 30 miles per hour,” the letter from neighbors states. “The wave of water that is created is approximately seven to eight feet high. On numerous occasions, drivers have been observed to not be in full control of their vehicles.”

Resident Cindy Miller, who is also one of the signers of the letter from the neighbors, said she sees it frequently when there is flooding.

“The drivers don’t slow down,” she said.

But a letter for the city asserts that is not possible. “Our crews do not confirm reports of 12 to 16 inches of standing water at this location,” a letter signed by City Manager Greg Sparks states. “Elevations at the intersection make this unlikely.”

Photographs provided by neighbors show significant levels of water.

A photo from Jeff Lanphere shows flooding in the area of G Street and Wabash Avenue after heavy rains. (Jeff Lanphere -- Contributed)

A photo from Jeff Lanphere shows flooding in the area of G Street and Wabash Avenue after heavy rains. (Jeff Lanphere -- Contributed)

A photo from Jeff Lanphere shows flooding in the area of G Street and Wabash Avenue after heavy rains. (Jeff Lanphere -- Contributed)

A photo from Jeff Lanphere shows flooding in the area of G Street and Wabash Avenue after heavy rains. (Jeff Lanphere -- Contributed)

A driver passes through the intersection of Wabash Avenue and G Street in Eureka on a sunny Thursday late afternoon. Neighbors have voiced concerns about flooding issues at the intersection. (Shaun Walker -- The Times-Standard)

A driver passes through the intersection of Wabash Avenue and G Street in Eureka on a sunny Thursday late afternoon. Neighbors have voiced concerns about flooding issues at the intersection. (Shaun Walker -- The Times-Standard)

One city report on storm drainage in the area from 1996 notes the area from Wabash Avenue to Del Norte Street “are inadequate for a 10-year storm event.”

“These small size pipes are really beyond the scope of a master storm drainage plan and when and if improvements are done in this area, a more detailed drainage analysis should be conducted,” the report states.

Gerving said that the work cited in the storm drain report has not been done in the past 23 years.

“I don’t get the impression that the improvements contemplated in the storm drain master plan, which if you look through that, a lot of them have not been able to occur because of funding. But if they had been made, I’m not confident they would greatly improve the flooding at that intersection.”

City budget, infrastructure

The letter signed by Sparks said the city has limited funds to address projects, especially with the failure of Measure I in November that would have funded projects with a sales tax.

“There is no doubt that aging infrastructure must be replaced and maintained,” the letter stated. “The fact of the matter is that current funding levels require that repairs be prioritized so that only the most critical facilities are addressed.”

Both Gerving and Sparks reiterated that if Measure I, a sales tax on the November 2018 ballot, passed there would be more funding for projects.

“When you look at the amount of funding we have for storm drain and street maintenance in this city, it’s not adequate across the board,” said Gerving. “That’s something we have been transparent about. It’s not something we like. It really impacts our ability to get to some of these problems, some of which are nuisance type of issues and some of them are really significant and we’d really like to be able to change that.”

Gerving said that means there is a significant backlog of deferred maintenance.

The intersection at G Street and Wabash Avenue is one of many that flood, said Eureka Councilwoman Kim Bergel, who has spoken to neighbors in the area about the issue.

“That site has been looked at several times,” she said. “It does flood just like other intersections in the city.”

Requests for help

Lanphere said he reached out to local council members, the city manager, the public works director, even 4th District Humboldt County Supervisor Virginia Bass.

“They’ve avoided me for almost four years,” he said of efforts to communicate the problem and work toward a solution.

Bergel said she heard from Lanphere via email about the issue and she recalls talking to residents in the neighborhood when she was knocking on doors as part of her campaign. The area of G Street and Wabash Avenue falls along a boundary between the city’s Ward 3 and Ward 5.

“He actually sent me a personal email,” Bergel said. “I hadn’t had much experience with (Public Works issues). I took it to the city manager because I was unfamiliar with it. … I forwarded it to the city manager and I sent them back an email that said the city manager will be contacting you.”

Sparks told the Times-Standard no council members have approached him about the issue. Lanphere said Sparks did not call him.

Councilwoman Natalie Arroyo also said she met with neighbors in the area.

“I met with the residents in question to hear their concerns, but ultimately referred this to the staff experts to decide about,” she said in an email to the Times-Standard.

Bass said because it’s in an incorporated area of the city, it’s “under the jurisdiction of the city.”

“I just keep the city aware of issues I have heard about,” she said. “Beyond that, I do not believe the county would have any leverage.”

The letter Sparks sent to Lanphere in response to the letter from neighbors states “the number of service calls to this intersection has been very low for the past 15 years,” and it outlines three such reports, the only ones Sparks said the city was aware of.

The incidents cited in the letter are a Feb. 14, 2013, note about concern for the condition of storm drain lines and potholes. Incidents dated Nov. 21, 2018 and Jan. 28, 2019 were reported flooding at Wabash Avenue and G Street.

Not included was the Feb. 26 incident reported to Humboldt Bay Fire, which confirmed the call. Humboldt Bay Fire also confirmed a flooding incident Jan. 20, 2012. Sparks said the city was not aware of either incident.

He said he was not aware of a city of Eureka service request form dated Jan 20, 2012, stating, “There is one foot of water in basement.” A second service request for Sept. 30, 2014, says, “(reporting party) states that due to a problem in the sewer main, his basement was flooded with sewage approx. 5 weeks ago.” This reporter provided copies of both incidents to Sparks.

Legal settlement and impasse

Lanphere did sue the city over some of the water issues he was experiencing. A years-long legal battle ensued before a settlement was reached, one that included a clause that prohibits either party from speaking much about it.

Lanphere states the settlement covered his property and some drainage issues and the city made a payment that covered legal fees and reconstructions costs for their home. It also included a clause that the city was not at fault. The settlement was reached Feb. 23, 2018, nearly one year to the day that Lanphere was calling Humboldt Bay Fire to help him drain his basement.

“The city was held harmless for anything further for that location,” said Bergel of her understanding of the settlement, stating no further action would be taken on the city’s behalf at the location.

What the settlement did not cover is the flooding that occurs around the intersection of Wabash Avenue and G Street, according to Lanphere, which allows him to discuss that issue. And it did not include anything for the neighbors who continue to say the problem remains.

“Now as a taxpayer, I would be upset at what they did,” said Lanphere. “It cost way more than just sitting down and talking to us one-on-one and resolving the issues. We tried to get them to do that many times but … they wouldn’t. … Throughout the negotiation, I tried to include Wabash and G but the city didn’t want to.”